Two year old Collie, too late to start traing?

[patseyr]

Hi there, (sorry for the typo in the title! just after noticing it now! and cant change it)

I would like to know is it too late to start training a collie for sheep at 2 years old? She is a very well mannered dog and really enthusiastic to work (and also our pet).

I will be finished collage in another few months and I hope to have some spare time to spend doing some training. Is it going to be very hard to get her out of her bad habits? I think she really has potential and it would be a shame not to at least give it a go.

Thanks for reading, any info would be really helpful.

 

[Dry Rot]

The worst part about training an older dog is that they have generally picked up bad habits and curing faults can be very time consuming. If your dog has never had a chance to work sheep, it might not be interested -- but if it is, I can't see why it shouldn't be trained if it is off good working stock and not totally out of control. Get yourself a few Indian runner ducks and see if she will herd them! At worst, you'll get some nice roast duck!

 

[patseyr]

Yea she will have picked up some bad habits but I believe she has potential. It is a shame she was not trained sooner but my father doesn't have the time or the patience.

I will give it a go and see what I can achieve .

 

[ChesnutsRoasting]

Two is no age. If she has the intelligence and has an obedient mentality, why not? Go for it! Don't use Runner ducks as an experiment though, they are too good for that.

 

[Dry Rot]

Two is no age. If she has the intelligence and has an obedient mentality, why not? Go for it! Don't use Runner ducks as an experiment though, they are too good for that.

The ducks are too good for the dog or the dog is too good for the ducks?

The ducks herd really well! I've some video of a friend of mine working six dogs at once on his flock which included a wild greylag goose picked up on the road as a gosling. If pressed too hard, the goose would fly off, do a circuit, and come back to join the flock when the dogs had backed off a bit! Hilarious!

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

2 is no age! get training! start with basics, stay with basics with high reward til off pat! collies round up/herd fairly instinctively .. have you access to an older trained dog as this often helps...

 

[patseyr]

Thanks for the replies guys, you have given me the push on that I need!

She really is a very well mannered dog which probably saved her bacon. She got hit by a car and broke her hip over a year ago, and we spent a lot of time and money on fixing her up (to keep my younger brother happy) secretly I think my father fell in love with her too!

she never as much as barked once despite being locked up, with a lot of pins and wires sticking out of her for well over a month!

Shes flying round now faster than a greyhound mad for work!